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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  BULLETIN 

Issued  Weekly 
Vol.  XX  June  4,  1923  No.  40 

[Entered  as  second-class  matter  December  11,  1912,  at  the  post  office  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  under  the 
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EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH  CIRCULAR  NO.  19 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 

PROVISIONS  FOR  EXCEPTIONAL 

CHILDREN  IN  191  ILLINOIS 

CITIES 

By 

Ruth  Streitz 

Associate,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


no,  13 

Provisions  for  Exceptional  Children  in  191  Illinois  Cities 

Introduction.  Numerous  investigations  have  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  children  of  the  same  chronological  age  exhibit  differences  of 
five  years  or  more  in  mental  age,  and  that  even  tho  they  may  have 
had  the  same  number  of  years  of  schooling,  they  will  be  found  scat- 
tered through  several  grades  in  a  typical  school.  The  number  of 
children  who  differ  widely  from  "normal"  or  "average"  is  much 
greater  than  has  generally  been  suspected.1  For  several  years  our 
attention  has  been  directed  to  mentally  defective  children  and  to 
those  who  are  greatly  retarded  in  their  school  career.  Authorities 
have  urged  that  mentally  defective  children  be  removed  from  the 
regular  classroom  and  also  that  children  conspicuously  backward  in 
their  school  work,  even  when  not  feeble-minded,  be  instructed  in  special 
classes.  This  has  been  advocated  both  for  the  welfare  of  such  children 
and  for  the  remainder  of  the  school.  The  amount  of  literature  appear- 
ing on  this  subject  during  recent  years  indicates  the  widespread  inter- 
est in  these  children  on  the  lower  levels  of  intelligence.  The  subject 
has  attained  considerable  popularity  even  among  laymen.  On  the 
other  hand  we  find  only  a  very  limited  number  of  reports  and  dis- 
cussions pertaining  to  gifted  children.  Until  very  recently  it  appears 
that  the  schools  have  shown  considerable  indifference  in  regard  to 
making  special  provision  for  these  superior  pupils.  The  theory  seems 
to  have  been  that  gifted  children  take  care  of  themselves  but  that 
mentally  defective  and  retarded  children  by  virtue  of  their  back- 
wardness create  school  problems  which  can  not  well  be  ignored. 

The  word  "exceptional"  is  used  in  this  report  to  designate  those 
children,  both  dull  and  gifted,  whose  mental  capacities  differ  con- 
spicuously from  the  "normal"  or  "average."  The  term  "gifted" 
is  used  to  describe  those  children  who  exhibit  exceptionally  high 
degrees  of  mental  ability,  and  in  this  investigation  includes  from  7 
to  10  percent  of  all  children  of  a  given  chronological  age.  The  "dull" 
or  "backward"  group  includes  approximately  10  percent,  of  which 
not  more  than  1  percent  may  be  considered  mentally  defective. 
There  are  pupils  who  can  not  keep  pace  with  the  normal  work  of  the 


xWoodrow,  Herbert.   "Brightness  and  Dullness  in  Children".   Philadelphia:  J.  B. 
Lippincott  and  Company,  1919,  p.  13. 

[3] 


class  and  yet  many  of  them  could  do  much  of  it  satisfactorily  if  they 
were  allowed  to  proceed  more  slowly,  and  if  their  work  were  restricted 
to  the  minimum  essentials.  Woodrow1  has  distinguished  between 
the  terms  "backward"  and  "dull."  The  former  is  used  to  designate 
children  who  appear  to  be  dull  but  whose  dullness  is  only  apparent  or 
temporary.  The  "dull"  child  is  one  whose  mental  inferiority  is  innate 
and  presumably  permanent.  This  distinction,  however,  is  not  perti- 
nent to  our  purpose  and  is  not  made  easily  except  by  a  trained  psy- 
chologist. Consequently,  we  shall  use  both  of  these  terms  to  refer  to 
children  whose  capacities  to  do  the  work  of  the  school  appear  to  be 
distinctly  below  that  of  the  normal  or  average  child. 

Purpose  and  plan  of  this  investigation.  In  October,  1922,  a 
questionnaire  was  sent  from  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 
to  all  city  superintendents  in  Illinois  having  six  or  more  teachers  in 
their  elementary  school.  The  purpose  of  this  questionnaire  was  to 
collect  information  concerning  the  provisions  which  these  schools 
were  making  for  both  classes  of  exceptional  children.  One  hundred 
and  ninety-one  replies  were  received.  Most  of  them  were  from  re- 
latively small  school  systems  but  the  list  includes  such  places  as 
Galesburg,  East  x^urora,  Danville,  Rock  Island,  and  Joliet.  In  tabu- 
lating the  data,  the  questionnaires  were  divided  into  two  groups  on 
the  basis  of  the  elementary  school  population  of  the  cities  from  which 
reports  were  received.  Group  I  includes  134  cities  having  elementary 
school  populations  of  less  than  800;  Group  II  includes  57  cities  whose 
elementary  school  populations  are  over  800.  The  content  of  the 
questionnaire  will  be  apparent  from  the  tables  of  this  report. 

Kindergartens  and  sub-primary  classes.  One  section  of  the 
questionnaire  called  for  information  relating  to  certain  features  of 
the  general  plan  of  organization  of  the  school  system  which  have  a 
bearing  upon  the  provisions  made  for  exceptional  children.  The  re- 
plies to  the  first  section  of  the  questionnaire  are  summarized  in  Table 
I.  The  frequencies  are  given  in  terms  of  percents.  Thus  the  table 
should  be  read:  5  percent  of  the  cities  in  Group  I  maintain  a  kinder- 
garten; 7  percent  maintain  sub-primary  classes,  and  88  percent  admit 
entering  pupils  to  the  first  grade.  In  the  typical  Illinois  school  system 
beginning  pupils  enter  the  first  grade  at  about  six  years  of  age.  The 
school  law  grants  to  boards  of  education  the  power  to  establish  kinder- 


^oodrow,  Herbert.   "Brightness  and  Dullness  of  Children."   Philadelphia:  J.  B. 
Lippincott  and  Company,  1919,  p.  54. 

[4] 


TABLE  I.   GENERAL  PLAN  OF  ORGANIZATION  OF  191  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 

IN  ILLINOIS 

(Frequencies  given  in  terms  of  percents.) 


Percent 


Elementary  School  Enrollment 


Types  of  organization  which  children  enter 

Kindergarten 

Sub-Primary 

Primary 


Plans  of  promotion 

Annual 

Semi-annual. . . 


Irregular1. 
On  trial. . . 


Promotion  or  demotion  granted  in  special  cases  other  than  at  the  end  of  the  semester  or  year. 

gartens  for  the  instruction  of  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
six  if,  in  their  judgment,  the  public  interest  requires  it.  Table  I 
shows  that  kindergartens  have  been  established  in  one  city  in  every 
five  in  Group  II;  and  in  only  one  city  in  every  twenty  of  Group  I. 
Judging  from  the  comments  entered  upon  some  of  the  blanks  the 
practise  with  regard  to  kindergartens  is  not  uniform.  In  Lyons, 
children  who  are  between  six  and  six  and  one-half  years  of  age  enter 
the  kindergarten  but  those  who  are  more  than  six  and  one-half  enter 
the  first  grade.  Belvidere  permits  five-year  old  pupils  to  enter  the 
kindergarten  and  those  who  have  passed  their  sixth  birthday  to  go 
into  the  first  grade.  In  East  St.  Louis,  a  kindergarten  is  maintained 
in  the  summer  to  help  beginning  pupils  who  are  entering  the  first 
grade  in  September.  Quincy  has  a  kindergarten  in  only  two  buildings 
out  of  thirteen.  In  Joliet,  children  enter  the  kindergarten  in  nine 
buildings  and  the  first  grade  in  the  other  twelve. 

Seventeen  cities  having  no  kindergarten  maintain  sub-primary 
or  pre-primary  classes.  The  work  of  these  classes  appears  to  differ 
from  that  of  the  kindergartens  in  being  more  formal  and  more  directly 
preparatory  to  the  reading  taught  in  the  first  grade.  In  East  Aurora, 
children  entering  school  in  January  are  placed  in  a  sub-primary 
class.    Those  who  enter  in  September  "with  little  or  no  experience 


[5] 


with  school  life"  are  assigned  to  a  sub-primary  for  the  first  semester. 
In  Johnson  City,  sub-primary  classes  are  maintained  in  all  buildings 
and  children  admitted  at  the  age  of  six  remain  in  them  until  they  have 
mastered  the  primer  and  are  ready  to  take  up  the  first  reader.  Usu- 
ally this  requires  about  one  semester. 

In  the  case  of  both  kindergartens  and  sub-primary  classes  one 
purpose  is  to  give  preliminary  training  to  children  who  are  judged 
incapable  of  doing  the  regular  work  of  the  school.  However,  in  most 
cases  children  are  selected  for  these  classes  on  the  basis  of  chronologi- 
cal age  rather  than  according  to  some  measure  of  their  capacity  to  do 
the  work  of  the  first  grade.  Therefore,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
many  pupils,  who  could  do  satisfactorily  the  work  of  the  first  grade  at 
the  time  they  enter  school,  are  required  to  spend  a  semester  or  longer 
in  these  classes.  On  the  other  hand  an  important  service  is  rendered 
to  children  who  are  less  capable. 

Plan  of  promotion.  Annual  promotion  is  most  typical  of  small 
school  systems  but  in  those  schools  enrolling  more  than  800  children 
in  the  first  eight  grades  slightly  more  than  three-fifths  are  organized 
on  the  basis  of  semi-annual  promotion.  However,  Table  1  shows  that 
significant  modifications  of  the  general  plan  of  promotion  are  allowed 
in  most  schools,  as  over  80  percent  permit  promotion  or  demotion  at 
times  other  than  the  end  of  the  semester  or  year.  A  slightly  larger 
percent  promote  pupils  on  trial.  Wheaton  and  Kewanee  have  annual 
promotion  with  semi-annual  promotion  in  special  cases.  Auburn  has 
"mostly  annual  promotion  but  is  gradually  changing  to  the  semi- 
annual. "  Urbana  is  also  making  the  change  to  semi-annual  promotion. 
Glen  Ellyn  "demotes  by  the  end  of  the  second  month  after  the  opening 
of  school  or  after  entering  the  Glen  Ellyn  schools  and  promotes  at 
any  time  the  child  is  able  to  carry  the  work  of  the  next  grade." 
Downers  Grove  reports  frequent  re-adjustments  by  subjects.  Ran- 
toul,  Naperville,  Dixon,  Lebanon,  Forrest,  and  Charleston  made  re- 
adjustments whenever  it  seems  best  for  the  pupil.  Piano  and  Streator 
promote  and  demote  at  any  time  that  the  teacher,  principal,  and 
superintendent  advise  such  action.  Morris  makes  re-adjustments 
upon  the  basis  of  standardized  tests  and  daily  classwork.  A  number 
of  cities  indicate  that  re-adjustments  are  seldom  made  after  the  first 
month  or  six  weeks  of  the  school  year. 

Both  groups  of  schools  follow  the  practise  of  promoting  some 
pupils  who  have  failed  with  the  understanding  that  they  may  re- 
main in  the  advanced  grade  if  their  work  is  satisfactory.    Hebron 

[6] 


states  that  such  trial  promotions  are  made  if  the  pupils  pass  intelli- 
gence tests  showing  that  they  are  capable  of  doing  the  advanced 
work.  Jerseyville  promotes  on  trial  if  the  failure  is  in  only  one  or 
two  subjects.  Downers  Grove  conditions  pupils  promoted  on  trial 
for  two  months.  Areola  makes  provisional  promotions  with  the  under- 
standing that  certain  work  be  done  during  the  vacation.  Similar 
practise  is  followed  in  Riverside  where  a  six  months  summer  school  is 
maintained  for  this  purpose.  Rantoul  reports  five  pupils  promoted 
on  trial  last  year  and  states  that  all  made  good.  On  the  other  hand 
Spring  Valley  is  "discouraging  the  practise  of  trial  promotions." 
It  is  clear  from  the  replies  to  this  portion  of  the  questionnaire  that 
most  superintendents  are  recognizing  the  necessity  of  making  the 
organization  of  their  school  system  more  flexible  so  as  to  provide  for 
the  individual  differences  of  pupils.  It  is  significant  that  more  than 
80  percent  of  the  superintendents  report  special  promotions  and  pro- 
motions on  trial.  This  seems  to  indicate  a  distinct  attempt  on  their 
part  to  give  the  child  an  educational  opportunity  commensurate  with 
his  ability  to  do  the  work  of  the  school. 

Special  provisions  for  gifted  children.  Flexibility  in  the  system  of 
promotion  represents  only  one  type  of  provision  for  exceptional 
children,  namely  rate  of  progress  through  the  school  system.  All 
pupils  study  the  same  curriculum  and  are  taught  in  the  same  classes 
and  by  the  same  methods.  The  questionnaire  asked  superintendents 
to  indicate  their  practise  with  reference  to  five  plans  for  providing 
for  gifted  children;  enriched  curriculum,  rapid  progress  sections, 
extra  promotions,  special  help  classes,  and  special  rooms.  Their  re- 
plies are  summarized  in  Table  II,  which  is  to  be  read  as  follows:  28 
percent  of  the  cities  in  Group  I  report  an  enriched  curriculum  for 
gifted  children  in  grades  I,  II,  and  III;  33  percent,  in  grades  IV,  V, 
VI;  and  39  percent  in  grades  VII  and  VIII. 

Gifted  children  are  given  extra  promotion  in  about  one-half  of 
the  cities.  This  occurs  more  frequently  in  those  cities  of  Group  II 
where  semi-annual  promotion  prevails  in  63  percent  of  the  school 
systems.  No  information  was  secured  in  regard  to  the  number  of 
extra  promotions  which  a  pupil  might  receive,  or  the  percent  of  pupils 
who  were  given  extra  promotions.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  extra 
promotions  are  given  least  frequently  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 
This  is  probably  due  to  the  belief  that  the  subject  matter  of  these 
grades  is  of  such  a  nature  that  pupils  who  skip  a  year  or  a  half-year 
will  be  handicapped  in  their  future  work.    Less  than  one-fifth  of  the 

[7] 


schools  report  rapid  progress  sections.  It  is  likely  that  most  super- 
intendents would  agree  that  advancement  by  means  of  rapid  progress 
sections  is  more  desirable  than  by  extra  promotions.  However,  the 
latter  plan  calls  for  no  changes  in  the  organization  of  the  school. 
Thus  the  fact  that  a  larger  percent  of  the  schools  grant  extra  pro- 
motions should  not  be  interpreted  to  mean  that  the  plan  is  considered 
more  desirable  than  the  rapid  progress  section  in  making  provision 
for  rapid  advancement  through  the  school  system. 

Nearly  one-third  of  the  schools  report  an  enriched  curriculum 
for  gifted  children.  No  attempt  was  made  to  ascertain  the  method 
and  amount  of  enrichment  but  occasional  comments  on  the  question- 
naire blanks  indicated  that  various  practises  were  followed.  Barton- 
ville  assigns  special  reports  in  history  and  literature.  Morris,  De  Pue, 
Gilman,  Jerseyville,  Athens,  Freeport,  Milledgeville,  Sheldon,  Salem, 
Washington,  and  Oglesby  require  extra  assignments  in  various  sub- 
jects. In  all  of  these  cases  the  pupil  retains  his  membership  in  the 
grade  and  carries  on  most  of  his  work  with  the  regular  class.  Piano 
and  Washington  permit  gifted  pupils  to  study  an  additional  subject. 
Henry  "offers  a  course  in  violin  to  those  in  grades  V  to  VIII  who  feel 
that  they  have  time  for  it."  Batavia  has  three  parallel  courses  of 
study  in  English  and  Arithmetic  in  all  grades. 

Special  help  classes  appear  to  be  maintained  to  assist  bright 
children  who  have  fallen  behind  because  of  illness  or  some  other  un- 
avoidable cause.  Some  pupils  are  assigned  to  such  a  class  for  a  short 
time  when  they  receive  extra  promotion  in  order  that  the  gap  created 
by  the  work  skipped  can  be  partially  bridged  over.  A  special  room  for 
gifted  children  is  found  in  only  three  cities,  except  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  grades.  Altho  our  questionnaire  contained  no  information  on 
the  point,  it  is  likely  that  the  special  rooms  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  occur  in  junior  high  schools  or  in  those  schools  in  which  the 
instruction  has  been  departmentalized. 

A  number  of  superintendents  stated  that  they  preferred  making 
provision  for  gifted  children  by  means  of  an  enriched  curriculum 
rather  than  by  permitting  rapid  advancement  through  extra  pro- 
motions or  rapid  progress  sections.  However,  Table  II  shows  that 
extra  promotion  is  the  most  frequent  plan  of  providing  for  gifted 
children.  It  is  probably  true  that  few  children  gain  more  than  one  or 
two  years  before  completing  eighth  grade.  Many  educators  maintain 
that  it  is  unwise  to  permit  children  to  enter  the  high  school  before 
they  have  reached  the  normal  age  for  entrance.    Younger  children, 

[8] 


TABLE  II.    TYPES  OF  PROVISIONS  FOR  GIFTED  CHILDREN 

(Frequencies  are  in  terms  of  percents) 


Grade 

Enriched 
Curriculum 

Rapid  Pro- 
gress  Section 

Extra 
Promotion 

Special  Help 
Class 

Special 
Room 

Group1 
I 

Group1 
II 

Group 
I 

Group 
II 

Group 
I 

Group 
II 

Group 

I 

Group 
II 

Group 

I 

Group 
II 

I,  II,  III 

28 

23 

14 

19 

49 

59 

7 

7 

1 

2 

IV,  V,  VI 

33 

28 

14 

18 

43 

59 

8 

11 

1 

2 

VII,  VIII 

39 

30 

13 

21 

35 

46 

7 

11 

» 

12 

^roup  I — towns  with  elementary  school  population  under  800. 
Group  II — towns  with  elementary  school  population  over  800. 

they  claim,  are  frequently  socially  immature  and  have  omitted  some 
of  the  essential  aspects  of  their  education.  It  is  highly  desirable  that 
this  point  of  view  be  recognized  in  interpreting  the  facts  presented 
in  Table  II. 

Special  provisions  for  dull  and  backward  children.  The  pro- 
visions for  dull  and  backward  children  listed  in  the  questionnaire 
correspond  closely  to  those  for  gifted  children.  Failure  requiring  the 
repetition  of  work  was  not  mentioned  as  it  is  assumed  that  all  schools 
require  some  pupils  to  repeat  the  work  of  a  grade  or  of  a  subject  when 
the  pupil  is  considered  to  have  failed.  Table  III  summarizes  the 
information  which  was  gathered  with  reference  to  the  provisions  for 
dull  and  backward  children.  An  ungraded  room  is  maintained  in 
several  of  the  larger  school  systems.  However,  it  seems  to  fulfil  a 
variety  of  functions.  In  some  schools  it  is  a  room  to  which  subnormal 
children  are  sent  in  order  to  remove  them  from  the  regular  classes. 
In  others,  it  is  used  as  a  room  to  which  pupils  who  are  doing  unsatis- 
factory work  may  be  sent  to  receive  special  assistance  until  they  are 
adjudged  able  to  do  the  regular  work  of  their  grade.  In  some  sys- 
tems, the  ungraded  room  is  used  as  a  place  to  which  pupils  who  create 
teaching  or  disciplinary  difficulties  may  be  sent.  In  other  school 
systems,  however,  it  is  a  room  in  which  the  instruction,  the  curricu- 
lum, and  the  rate  of  progress  are  adapted  to  the  mental  capacities 
of  dull  and  backward  children. 

Special  help  classes  are  maintained  in  several  of  the  larger  school 
systems.    These  are  generally  conducted  by  a  visiting  teacher  or 

[9] 


TABLE  III.   SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  PROVIDING  FOR  DULL  AND  BACKWARD 

CHILDREN 

(Frequencies  are  given  in  terms  of  percents) 


Grade 

Ungraded 
Room 

Special 
Help  Class 

Slow   Pro- 
gress Section 

Individual 
Assistance 

Minimum 
Essentials 

Group 
I1 

Group 
II1 

Group 

I 

Group 
II 

Group 
I 

Group 
II 

Group 

I 

Group 
II 

Group 
I' 

Group 
II 

I,  II,  III 

4 

18 

1 

14 

28 

26 

65 

61 

19 

25 

IV,V,VI 

2 

21 

1 

12 

26 

30 

66 

61 

17 

23 

VII,  VIII 

1 

14 

1 

11 

25 

39 

67 

60 

22 

30 

*Group  I — towns  with  elementary  school  population  under  800. 
Group  II — towns  with  elementary  school  population  over  800. 

some  one  other  than  the  regular  classroom  teacher.  Champaign,  by 
dividing  the  time  of  certain  special  teachers  between  different  build- 
ings so  that  those  children  not  doing  satisfactory  work  may  receive 
additional  help,  has  carried  on  this  type  of  work  for  several  years. 
As  the  number  of  pupils  assigned  to  such  a  teacher  is  generally  small 
an  opportunity  is  given  her  to  become  acquainted  with  the  pupils' 
particular  difficulties  and  to  apply  effective  remedial  instruction. 
In  some  school  systems  the  principal  or  assistant  principal  devotes  a 
part  of  his  time  to  this  type  of  work. 

Individual  assistance  by  the  regular  classroom  teacher  at  some 
time  other  than  the  regular  class  period  is  the  most  frequent  method 
of  providing  for  dull  and  backward  children.  Nearly  two-thirds  of 
the  schools  give  assistance  of  this  type.  Some  of  the  replies  stated 
that  teachers  require  such  children  either  to  remain  after  school  or  to 
return  before  school  in  the  morning  or  afternoon  in  order  to  receive 
special  help.  Such  a  plan  requires  no  change  in  the  organization  of  the 
school  and  is  doubtless  effective  in  some  cases.  However,  many  dull 
and  backward  children  need  more  than  assistance.  They  do  not  have 
the  capacity  to  advance  at  the  normal  rate  and  should  be  permitted 
more  time  to  do  the  work.  Occasionally  they  should  have  a  modified 
curriculum. 

Dull  and  backward  children,  when  taught  in  the  regular  classes, 
can  not  be  said  to  complete  the  entire  curriculum.  The  quality  of 
their  work  automatically  eliminates  many  of  the  more  difficult  topics, 


[10] 


and  their  efforts  are  not  concentrated  upon  the  minimum  essentials 
of  the  course.  Less  than  one-fourth  of  the  schools  included  in  this 
investigation  report  that  they  are  attempting  to  reduce  the  curricu- 
lum to  the  minimum  essentials  for  the  dull  and  backward  students. 
It  is  significant  that  slightly  fewer  schools  are  attempting  to  adapt  the 
curriculum  to  dull  and  backward  students  than  are  maintaining  an 
enriched  curriculum  for  gifted  children.  No  information  was  secured 
in  regard  to  the  reason  for  this  condition.  One  can  only  speculate 
as  to  the  probable  cause.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  superintendents  and 
teachers  find  it  more  difficult  to  eliminate  topics  than  to  add  them. 

Provisions  for  mentally  defective  children.  The  vast  amount  of 
literature  on  this  subject  leads  one  to  expect  a  large  number  of 
schools  to  be  making  some  special  provision  for  mentally  defective 
children.  We  find,  however,  that  in  the  group  of  schools  included  in 
this  investigation  only  a  few  maintain  a  special  room  or  a  special 
school  for  mental  defectives.  In  Group  I,  6  percent  of  the  schools 
reported  a  special  room.  In  Group  II,  21  percent  maintain  a  special 
room  and  2  percent  a  special  school.  Several  superintendents  ex- 
pressed an  interest  in  this  type  of  work  and  also  the  hope  that  they 
would  be  able  in  the  future  to  make  some  provision  for  these  atypical 
children.  Others  indicated  that  the  number  of  such  children  in  their 
school  system  was  so  small  that  the  organization  of  a  special  class  did 
not  appear  to  be  justified.  This  is  probably  one  reason  why  such  pro- 
vision is  found  in  so  few  of  these  school  systems. 

Methods  of  selecting  exceptional  children.  A  prerequisite  to 
making  adequate  provision  for  exceptional  children  is  an  efficient 
method  of  identifying  them.  School  records  and  teachers'  estimates 
have  been  found  unreliable  in  many  cases,  particularly  with  gifted 
children  who  have  not  been  given  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
their  ability.  It  is  therefore  advisable  to  make  use  of  intelligence 
tests  for  this  purpose.  The  most  accurate  measures  of  the  mental 
capacity  of  children  can  be  obtained  by  an  individual  intelligence  test 
such  as  the  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon  Scale.  With  this 
scale,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  each  'child  separately  and 
the  time  required  makes  its  use  almost  prohibitive  except  for  a  limited 
number  of  pupils.  Thus  it  is  advisable  that  one  or  more  group  in- 
telligence tests  be  administered  to  all  children  in  the  school.  The 
following  are  among  the  best  for  this  purpose: 


[11] 


Dearborn  Group  Test  of  Intelligence,  Series  I,  Revised  Edition 
Grades  I  to  III 
This  battery  of  tests  consists  of  general  examinations  A  and  B.   Both  examinations 
are  intended  to  be  given  at  the  same  time.  This  group  of  general  intelligence  tests  has 
been  found  to  yield  very  satisfactory  results  but  they  are  rather  difficult  to  administer 
and  require  considerable  time. 

J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  227  S.  Sixth  Street,  Philadelphia,  $4.50 

Dearborn  Group  Test  of  Intelligence,  Series  II,  Revised  Edition 

Grades  IV  to  IX 
This  series  of  general  intelligence  tests  consists  of  two  parts — general  examination 
C  and  general  examination  D.  They  are  non-verbal  in  character. 
/.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  227  S.  Sixth  Street,  Philadelphia,  $4.50 

Detroit  First  Grade  Intelligence  Tests 

World  Book  Company,  2126  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois,  fcJSo 

Haggerty  Intelligence  Examinations 

Delta  I,  Grades  I  to  III 
Delta  II,  Grades  III  to  IX 

World  Book  Company,  2126  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois,  Delta  I,  $7>28;  Delta  II,  $6.93 

Illinois  General  Intelligence  Scale 

Grades  III  to  VIII 

This  scale  is  included  in  the  Illinois  Examination. 

Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  $2 

Kingsbury  Primary  Group  Intelligence  Scale,  Form  A 

Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  $2.50 

National  Intelligence  Tests 
Scale  A  and  Scale  B 
Forms  1  and  2  of  each  scale 
Grades  III  to  VIII 
Scale  A  and  Scale  B  may  be  used  separately,  altho  it  is  recommended  that   both 
be  used  in  order  to  insure  more  reliable  measures. 

World  Book  Company,  2126  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois,  $6£o 

Otis  Group  Intelligence  Scale,  Primary  Examination 

Forms  A  and  B 
Grades  I  to  IV 

World  Book  Company,  2126  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois,  $6.60 

Otis  Group  Intelligence  Scale,  Advanced  Examination 

Forms  A  and  B 
Grades  VII  to  XII 

World  Book  Company,  2126  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois,  $7.80 

Pressey  Primary  Classification  Test 

Grades  I  and  II 
This  is  a  revision  of  the  original  Pressey  Primer  Scale  which  has  been  widely  used. 

Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  $1.50 

[12] 


Pressey  Intermediate  Classification  Test 

Grades  III  to  VI 
Forms  A  and  B 

Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  $1.25 

Pressey  Senior  Classification  Tests 
Grades  VII  and  VIII 
Forms  A  and  B 

Public  School  Publishing  Company,  Bloomington,  Illinois,  $1.25 

Where  there  is  disagreement  between  the  scores  obtained  from 
two  or  more  group  intelligence  tests  or  where  the  score  of  a  single 
test  does  not  correspond  with  the  child's  school  record  or  the  estimate 
of  his  teacher  it  is  advisable,  in  order  to  determine  more  accurately 
his  mental  capacity,  to  administer  an  individual  test.  Before  finally 
classifying  a  child  as  "gifted"  or  "dull  and  backward"  one  should  take 
into  account  several  other  factors  such  as  attitude  toward  the  school, 
health,  previous  school  experience,  etc. 

The  neglect  of  exceptional  children.  It  is  clear  from  the  facts 
collected  in  this  investigation  that  many  school  systems  in  Illinois 
have  recognized  the  problem  of  making  special  provisions  for  ex- 
ceptional children.  They  have  found  the  single  curriculum  unsatis- 
factory. Some  children  will  not  be  able  to  do  the  work  satisfactorily 
even  when  required  to  repeat  the  work  of  one  or  more  grades.  Gifted 
children  will  not  find  a  sufficient  challenge  to  their  mental  capacities. 
Several  will  be  misfits  in  the  school.  Many  cities  are  gradually  work- 
ing out  plans  of  adapting  the  school  to  the  individual  differences  of 
their  children.  However,  the  information  gathered  in  this  investiga- 
tion shows  that  in  most  schools  exceptional  children  are  not  receiving 
adequate  educational  opportunities.    Eighty-two  percent  in  Group 

I  and  67  percent  in  Group  II  have  no  other  plan  for  the  bright  child 
than  extra  promotion;  78  percent  in  Group  I  and  77  percent  in  Group 

II  provide  only  individual  assistance  for  their  dull  children.  If  we 
exclude  these  two  methods,  which  are  at  best  inadequate,  fewer  than 
one-third  of  the  schools  reporting  indicate  the  use  of  any  one  plan 
of  providing  for  exceptional  children.  The  replies  to  the  question- 
naire indicate  that  a  number  of  superintendents  realize  the  importance 
of  this  problem  but  are  doubtful  as  to  the  value  of  the  particular 
methods  in  use.  Thus  the  situation  at  present  seems  to  show  that 
most  of  the  schools  in  Illinois  recognize  the  fact  that  more  adequate 
provision  should  be  made  for  exceptional  children  and  feel  that  a 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  has  not  yet  been  reached. 

[13] 


CIRCULARS  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL 
RESEARCH,  COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION,  UNI- 
VERSITY OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA,  ILLINOIS. 

No.  12.     Monroe,  Walter  S.   Announcements  of  the  Bureau 
of  Educational  Research  for  1922-23. 


No.  13.     Monroe,  Walter  S.   Definitions  of  the  Terminology 
of  Educational  Measurements. 


No.  14.     Streitz,  Ruth.    Gifted  Children  and  Provisions  for 
Them  in  Our  Schools. 

No.  15.     Monroe,  Walter  S.    Educational  Tests  for  Use  in 
Elementary  Schools. 

No.  16.     Odell,  Charles  W.   The  Effect  of  Attendance  Upon 
School  Achievement. 

No.  17.     Mohlman,  Dora  Keen.     The  Elementary   School 
Principalship. 

No.   18.     Monroe,  Walter  S.    Educational  Tests  for  Use  in 
High  Schools. 

No.   19.     Streitz,  Ruth.   Provisions  for  Exceptional  Children 
in  191  Illinois  Cities. 


A  limited  number  of  copies  of  these  educational  circulars 
are  available  for  free  distribution  to  superintendents  and 
teachers  in  Illinois.  We  shall  be  glad  to  add  to  our  mailing 
list  for  these  circulars  the  names  of  any  teachers  or  superin- 
tendents who  care  to  receive  them  regularly.  We  shall  be 
glad  also  to  send  additional  copies  of  any  circular  to 
superintendents  or  principals  for  distribution  among  their 
teachers.  Address  all  communications  to  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cational Research,  University  of  Illinois. 


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